Percy Mayfield was one of the premier composers of blues songs, but his most enduring hit, 'Please Send Me Someone to Love,' was actually a prayer in ballad form. Inspirational messages were at the core [...]
Of the 14 tracks Charley Patton recorded at his 1929 debut session, Paramount chose 'Pony Blues' and 'Banty Rooster Blues,' as the two sides of his first single, which proved to be his biggest hit [...]
If there ever was a blues theme for the proletariat, it was Jimmy Reed's 1961 smash, Big Boss Man. 'You got me workin', boss man, workin' 'round the clock, I want me a drink of [...]
Out of the many classics recorded by Muddy Waters, 'Long Distance Call' was Muddy's own personal favorite, and understandably so. A sterling performance by Muddy as a singer and slide guitarist with Little Walter on [...]
Big Joe Turner is best described as one of the critical link between R&B, Blues and Rock N Roll. The Kansas City musician was a vital musical factor for almost five decades and stands as [...]
Although this often considered the record that crossed B.B. King over into the pop market, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 reveals that it actually marked the 19th B.B. entry on pop charts dating back [...]
Manish Boy' was one of a series of Chess singles that featured Muddy Waters convincingly touting his own virility ('spelled M-A-N, that represent man, no B-O-Y') ably (and verbally) assisted by an all-star crew with [...]
Slide guitar maestro Robert Nighthawk took his cues from an earlier slide wizard, Tampa Red, when he recorded the powerfully emotive 'Black Angel Blues' and its flip side, 'Annie Lee Blues,' for Aristocrat Records in [...]
Bursting with energy from a strutting pulse, Hubert Sumlin's zinging guitar and Howlin' Wolf's lupine gnarl, 'Killing Floor' was one of Wolf's most recognizable songs. It has long been a staple among many blues bands [...]
Sweet Home Chicago' has become an all too familiar bar band anthem over the past few decades, but even in Robert Johnson's time the theme was circulating from one artist to another. Johnson may have [...]